Let's explore the rich culture, beautiful scenic view, delicious and colorful gourmet,high infrastructure, high life-style, tourist spot, people and educational activities of Korea from my window called the "MYSTIC KOREA".

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Female stationmaster adding cultural flavor to Seoul Station

Kim Yang-sook

Kim
Yang-sook, who was tapped as the first female stationmaster of Seoul
Station in its 112 year history, is moving to upgrade the station
facilities and make it a place where passengers enjoy more cultural
events.

She is leading renovation projects to make
the nation’s largest railroad station more appealing to visitors, with
her colleagues fully supporting her.

“She is a calm
person and sometime sentimental. But once she starts working, she
becomes a real mover and shaker,” said Park Doo-ho, one of her coworkers
who is a director of the Management and Human Resources Department at
the Korea Railroad Corporation (Korail).

“It was a
big thing that she became the first female leader of the station as men
tended to dominate the railroad sector so far,” Park said. “Nobody
opposed her appointment because everyone knew that she was the right
person thanks to her rich experience in public relations and culture.”

He said everyone at Korail was satisfied with her performance so far ― she assumed the leadership post about a month ago.

“She
definitely has strength as a woman leader. She sometimes views things
that men would not think of, especially in terms of public relations,”
he said.

When Korail officially announced Kim’s
appointment last month, Kim told reporters that: “I am excited and
nervous as many people think of Seoul Station as a symbol of Korail. I
will do my best to make the station more luxurious by establishing right
systems and introducing diverse traditional cultural events.”

More than 300,000 passengers use the station every day. It accounts for 16 percent of Korail’s total revenue.

“I
want to create a convenient and unique atmosphere featuring distinct
Korean characteristics. For example, I want to have Korean classical
music played in the station so that people come to the station and enjoy
some cultural events,” she said.

The 44-year-old
plans to improve the design of the station from the beginning of next
year. The plans include renovating Seoul Station Plaza in order to
change it into a cultural space.

As part of this effort, Kim organized a music concert in the station last Saturday.

She began her railroad career in 1987 after her father suggested to her that Korail was a respectable job.

“At
the time, I was studying the college entrance exam but my father asked
me to take Korail’s employment exam,” she said, admitting that she was
regretful at first that she didn’t go to the university.”

But
she just focused on her work and held a series of posts, including
stationmaster of SeoDaejeon Station and the head of Korail’s culture and
public relations department.